Police: Woman 'freaked out' after stealing car with kids inside

Jul. 2, 2013

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File video: Two kids abducted in Springfield; one ...: A 2002 gray Nissan Maxima was stolen from the parking lot of a Save A Lot at 1117 E. Commercial St. Saturday with Harmony J. Blue and her unnamed 4-year-old brother inside. The boy was found a short time later.

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Police say a Fair Grove woman “freaked out” when she noticed two children in the back seat of the car she had just stolen.

Cynthia Brown, 37, was charged Monday with three felonies stemming from the March 2 auto theft in Springfield that led to an Amber Alert for a 13-month-old girl.

On that day, the father of the children parked his car — leaving it unlocked with the keys in the ignition — and entered a Commercial Street business while Harmony J. Blue and her 4-year-old brother stayed in the car.

According to documents filed in Greene County court, Brown was prompted by her husband to jump in the driver’s seat and flee the area.

As she was driving away, she realized at least one child was in the car.

“Hi,” the child said to her, according to the documents.

She panicked and accidentally “sideswiped” a nearby vehicle but, documents say, she continued fleeing the area.

The woman stopped the car at 1213 W. State St. and dropped off the 4-year-old, along with the father’s cell phone, according to the documents.

According to the documents, the boy was told to contact an adult and they would take him to his father.

The boy was later found by a bystander about two to three blocks from where he was dropped off.

Police say Brown eventually abandoned the vehicle — with the baby still in the back seat — at 424 W. Mount Vernon St. in Springfield.

The car was found by a family member about seven hours after the boy was dropped off.

Baby Blue was unharmed, though it’s not clear how long she had been inside the abandoned vehicle before she was found.

The 4-year-old was later questioned by investigators at the Child Advocacy Center.

Asked to describe the woman, the boy said she was an “ugly white lady.”

It was not until May 23 when police received an anonymous tip about Brown.

According to court documents, members of Brown’s family told detectives that Brown was involved in the theft.

While Brown was being held in the Greene County Jail on unrelated charges, family members visited her.

Conversations between Brown and her family at the jail were recorded, and partial transcripts are included in court documents.

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During one conversation, Brown was speaking with her mother:

“They are not going to get me for kidnapping, they can’t mom. I don’t care they already know I’m guilty. It doesn’t matter because you know why? Because like, it was not like I said, oh my god there’s some kids I want to kidnap them. They’re going to end up dropping those charges to Endangerment of Children because I was intoxicated when I did it and they are going to get me for 1st Degree Tampering.”

Brown’s mother asked why she did it.

“I don’t know mom,” she replied, according to the documents.

Brown is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of first-degree tampering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

She is also charged with one misdemeanor — leaving the scene of an accident.

Harmony Blue’s grandfather, Bill Lee, found Harmony less than a mile away from where her brother had been let out of a car.

He later spoke out to question whether police did enough to try to find the baby.

Anita Roberts, Lee’s wife and the grandmother of the children, said Tuesday she still believes police did not do enough to find her granddaughter.

After she and her husband learned their grandchildren had been abducted, Roberts said they went down “every single street and alley” around where her grandson was dropped off in search of the car.

“We never saw one single cop the entire evening,” Roberts said.

Roberts didn’t know of the charges against Brown until told by a News-Leader reporter.

Roberts said she was glad to hear of the charges “because somebody should definitely be responsible for what happened.”